Fountain pen



1NVENTOB.

F. M. ASHLEY FOUNTAIN PEN Filed Feb. 4, 1937 July 19, v1938.

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Patented July 19, 1938 l y falzzazsevv m FOUNTAINPEN j-inpplication rebiruaryei, 1937, senaINo. 1233951 f., 'A 4 Claims. (o1. l12h-Q47) My invention relates to fountain pens.

`1 The'objectof my invention isto'provideA apen construction of the self-lling type that will operate*very'freely'in'the act ofj illingtheA reservoir wthink. i l Y A further object is'tofprovide apenthat will hold alarge volurneof'ink, -and having means whereby a feed-chamber is provided which'holds 'a quantity ofink such'` as canbe controlled bythe 1V 10 feed-plug, `and a further quantity of ink that can .'be controlled by the piston whichserves'to 'sep- E"arate'A the feed-chamber portion y:of the reservoir frovm, ythe storage portion, pand which' may be Jl*easily foperated toitransfer ink from the main 1,5 reservoir portion ofithe chamber to the 4feed por- *tion thereof. Y i I A'furth'er'object is to" provide apen, the barrel j of 'whichfmay beA made vofitransparent o rtransflllucent material `to permit-the'ink therein tojbe t i120"viewedjnand"theinterior of" which'isikept clear '-by ,the wiping action of ithe'jpiston *therein 'both in thefiillingjope/ration;v orA by using kwater .for the purpose;l Y l Further Vobjects `of'my invention and detailsr of v 25 -construction will now be'described.

Referring to the drawingwhichforrns ra part *of this specification: A

Fig. 1 is alongitudinal sectional View of a pen embodying my invention, the valve "being shown V' *in its closed position in 2 "in `which the Valver and piston is 'shown knjsection. *Fig 3 Ais an end-View of 'the pist m,'takenl ron line-343 of VFigure 1;. o

Figuren-is a longitudinal sectional View of a 'Amodiedconstruction' ofthe pistonavalve. AAII) indicates the barrelv of the pen vwhich may be'made ofltransparent or translucent material, and II is the pen-section which is tted in fluid- 'tight' relation-with the *end of thebarrel at I2. I3f. indicates ,the feed-plugjand I4 the pen proper.` Y i I5 indicates a central bore which extends from e theinner end of the plug;r tonear its front end, and is intersected by a passage I5 klocated a predetermined distance from the end of the bore and having a smaller diameter than that of the bore. Y

I6 indicates a small tubapreferably made of hard rubber such as used for air-tubes in types of self-filling pens; saidtube extending `from the inner closed endof the bore and into the handle I'I of the piston-rodportion I6' of which said tube forms a part.

The tube portion I6 is provided with a stiff rod I 8A one endA of whichf extends intolthe centralbore I9 formed in the piston I9 to Strengthen the `-piston'rod atthispoint. v Thepiston I9 is mounted onthevpiston-rod in v3iixe'drelatibn; and-.iis'fpro'vided with one or more-5 "longitudinally, extending I passages 20,- andl with "one'or more passages-2l which extend from the Nrear sidef23 of the'piston andftherethruto a passage `22 leading through the tube passage C24 in theftube -1 v- -10 25 indicates a valvewhichinfFig. 1, consists of fafthn-exible disc of soft rubberuwhichisheld onthe tube I6 byaringhz xed-thereom-and "the diameter of the valve'is.lessv than that ofthe pistonto permit inl; to'Y owthru the piston pas- 1;5 LsagesfZIand over. the outer edgefof the valve when it is -open-,Y/intokthe .feed-chamber '21- from the reservoir chamber 28. v f T'In Fig. i4; thepiStOn-isthesame in construction Las# that shown infFigure-l; but the'valve isa thin L20 Y -,dsc of hard rubber -ffitted l-toslide on "the tube I6 Yandipresse'd against the'face of the piston by alightjspring pressure caused by a helical spring. v 29 Awhich rests against thefdiscv at rone end Aand against a ring 30 mounted on the tube, at `its 25 -other Aenolgf theivalve'slbeing :normally Aclosed. i3 I indicates. .theV casing'l' of LaV vstulingbox and3 I l the-upackingimaterialthereinlwhich-may be rela- .tivelyfa largeiniass Ito I.pro-vide an? elastic resilient cushion which closely tsr the wallzff the sliding i30 :vpistonrodtbi maintain a fluid-tight joint without excessive friction, l'and thel-rodfb'e'ing I"ef small VLdiame'ter-lmay be ,moved fwithla minimum' ofV fric- .Ltion inthe 'llingopera'tion f The casing-f3 his-*provided fwith -a'f thread 1321 to 35 receive the. threaded-endi233 of! thelhandle f I'I, .and 'the length 'of-Athis' threadkisllessf.thanlthat of'the distance between the Y.passage r I5? and the Aadjajcentend'of'the tubeJ IB', :so thatas long as the 1 threadsr32 eng-angei thelend33 of-i the handle;VA the hm `passage 5f willi beclsedf-byftlfieend ofthe-`tube "f'overlying it; l '2 f 1 e 5?"The---pisto'n Aandf-va1ve"-`may be located atany desired point on the piston-rod, depending on the relative size of the chambers desired. 45

.The piston may be made of hard rubber and Will slide in easy frictional relation with the wall of the barrel, the ink serving as a lubricant, and the reservoir will iill completely with two inward strokes of the piston after the front end of the 50V pen-section has been immersed in ink.

When ink has been used from the feed-chamber and it is desired to add ink thereto from the reservoir chamber 28, the handle II is unsorewed nearly the length of the thread 32, which causes l Y in chamber 28 to pass thru the tube I6 into the bottle, and thru the passages 20 into the feedchamber, and on the inward strokes of the piston, the valve 25 closes and ink is drawn from the bottle thru the tube I6 and fills the chamber 28 as fast as the piston travels; and on the second outward stroke of the piston, the ink flows more p.

freely from the chamber 28 into the feed-chamber than it does thru the tube I6, so that two or three strokes in each direction completely fills both chambers.

This construction provides positive meansfor forcing the ink from the main reservoir to the feed chamber, and for trapping theink in the main reservoir; therefore the feed-plug can control the flow of ink in the feed-chamber without danger of flooding, even tho the pen as a Whole is filled with much more ink than the feedplug could control, Were the main reservoir not closed and a large part of the inkhad been removed therefrom, causing air to Vreplace the ink used, which destroys the partial vacuum above the ink and permits the ink to flow from the reservoir, as will be4 readilyv understood.

In the present construction, the ink-duct 34 in the feed-plug is entirely separated from the bore I5.

The cap 35 is threaded in engagement with the pen-section I3 at 36 instead of on the-end of the barrel I0, which permits a smooth gripping surface on the barrel when the pen-section is made rather short', as will be readily understood.

Having thus described my invention I claim vas new:

1. A fountain pen comprising a barrel, a feedplug carried at one end thereof and provided with a central cylindrical bore which extends from its inner end to near'itsfront end and having a passage leading fromV the vatmosphere to said bore located at a predetermined distance from the closed end of said bore, a tube fitted to slide in close sliding relation in said bore, a connecting rod extending from the tube thru the rear end of said barrel, a piston movable by said connecting-rod and having a passage extending therethru, a valve controlling said passage, means for leading a liquid from the rear side of said piston thru said tube -to the atmosphere, means for closing the rear end of said barrel, and a handle connected to said piston-rod.

2. The construction defined in claim l, together with; and means for imparting a limited moveopposite chamber.

ment of said piston-rod whereby the valve may be operatedto force ink thru the passage in said piston from one'side thereof to the opposite side without opening the passage leading 'thru the tube to the atmosphere.

3. A fountain pen comprising a barrel having a uniform cylindrical bore forming the reservoir therein, a feed-plug having a duct for ink, a pen overlying said duct; said feed-plug having a central bore extending from its rear end nearly to theforward end thereof anda passage for ink leading from'the atmosphere to said bore and located a predetermined distance from the Vclosed end of the bore, a tube tted to slide in close contact with the wall of the bore and overlying the said passageV for ink and extending from the bore into the reservoir, a piston carried by said tube, a piston-rod extending thru the rear end of said barrel, a`piston actuated thereby having a' passage leading therethru in open communication with said tube and-also having a passage leading frorn o'neside'threof to the opposide side, a disc serving as a valve for said'last named passage; said piston being located between the ends of said barrel to form'two chambers in said barrel; the constructionbeing such that the outward strokeof the piston opens said valve.

4. A fountain pen comprising a barrel, apensection'ca'rried in one end of said barrel, a feedplug in said section having a feed-duct and af central bore separated therefrom and leading to the atmosphere thru a small passage located vat a predetermined distance from the inner end of the bore, a' tube fitted in said duct and extending into the barrel, a piston directly connectedV to said tube, a piston-rod extending from the piston thru the rear end of the barrel, a stuii'ng-boxv for the piston-rod comprising Va casing, said casing having a threaded end,lav handle, carried by the piston-rod having a thread toy engage the. thread in casing and of less Vlength thanthe length of ythe tube portion which extends beyond the small passage in the outer end of the feed-plug; said piston having a passage leading therethru to its opposite side and a passage leading to said tube, a valve carried by the piston-rod adapted to close said passage leading thruthe piston on the inward stroke thereof land openon the outward stroke,` said valve being normally closed; said piston beinglocated between the `opposite ends of the barrel to provide two chambers normally separated from each other but in open communication during the outward stroke of the piston: the construction being such that the piston may move in its outward direction a limited distance .without opening the passage leading thru the tube to the-atmosphere, and simultaneously causing the valve to open to permit a fluid in one chamber to pass a quantity therefrom to the FRANK M. ASHLEY.` 

